Mine Owners' Association

Last updated

In the United States, a Mine Owners' Association (MOA), also sometimes referred to as a Mine Operators' Association or a Mine Owners' Protective Association, is the combination of individual mining companies, or groups of mining companies, into an association, established for the purpose of promoting the collective interests of the group. Such associations are sometimes referred to as MOAs, however, in some cases they may be designated by the state, district, or locale, such as the Cripple Creek District Mine Owners' Association (CCDMOA). [1]

Contents

Mine Owners' Associations were often formed for the purpose of fighting against union organizing drives, but smelter trusts and railroad syndicates were also a concern. These latter issues were complicated by the fact that some mine owners also controlled smelters and railroad lines.

History

Prior to the formation of the Western Federation of Miners (WFM), local unions and protective associations formed by miners did not present much of a threat to the mine operators. Organizations such as the Knights of Labor had little power in confronting owners. Miners demanding better working conditions or wage increases were often fired. When local unions sought such changes, they were easily driven out of the mining districts. [2]

During the 1896-97 strike of the Cloud City Miners' Union in Leadville, Colorado, mine owners formed a secret verbal agreement among themselves that none of them would recognize the union or negotiate with it, an arrangement later revealed in a report by the Colorado State Legislature. [3]

Mine owners went a step further and formed a Mine Owners' Association in response to union organizing in the mining district of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho during the 1880s. [4] [5] A violent confrontation between local miners' organizations and mining companies in Coeur d'Alene in 1892 served as the impetus for formation of the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) in 1893. The mining companies of Colorado similarly joined together during a labor struggle with the WFM in 1894, and during the Colorado Labor Wars of 1903. However, the mining companies of the Cripple Creek District were not completely united, even during the 1903-04 strike. As in Coeur d'Alene, [6] mining companies in the Cripple Creek District that made agreements with unions were shut down by military force. [7]

In the late 1890s and 1900s, mine owners' associations were created in cities and states throughout the mining west. [8]

Colorado mining associations

The Colorado Mining Association (CMA), had been established in 1876, and was incorporated in 1897, and still exists. [9]

In March 1902, Arthur L. Collins, of the Smuggler-Union mine in Telluride; Charles Chase; Arthur Winslow, general manager of the Liberty Bell; A.D. Snodgrass, chief clerk of the Smuggler-Union mine; and several other mine operators were instrumental in forming the Colorado Mine Operators' Association. The motivating reason was a WFM union organizing drive in Telluride, and similar efforts in other parts of Colorado. Twenty-seven members started the group, many of them from Idaho Springs, where the WFM was strong. [10]

Mining operators in the San Juan mountain area of Colorado formed the San Juan District Mining Association (SJDMA) in approximately 1903, as a direct result of a WFM proposal to the Telluride Mining Association for the eight-hour day. The new association consolidated the power of thirty-six mining properties in San Miguel, Ouray, and San Juan counties. The SJDMA granted itself the power to prevent any of its members from coming to an agreement with the miners' union that would accept reduced hours or increased wages. [11] This inflexible decision helped to create conditions that resulted in a series of bitter and bloody strikes throughout Colorado's mining communities.

Methods of dealing with unions

Mining companies routinely hired agencies such as the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, the Baldwin–Felts Detective Agency, or the Thiel Detective Service Company to assign special agents to monitor, infiltrate, and sabotage unions, or union organizing drives. The MOAs sometimes issued work cards to miners who were required to renounce the union as a condition of employment. State MOAs enabled blacklisting of union miners on a statewide basis. [12] MOAs sometimes united to call upon state or federal authorities to send military force in the form of national guard or federal troops into strike areas.

Historic mining associations by state

Colorado

Modern mining associations

In 1995, mining companies in the United States joined together to form the National Mining Association (NMA). The trade organization works through the Advocacy Campaign Team for Mining; lists itself as the voice of the mining industry in Washington, DC; and has more than 325 corporate members.

The Bituminous Coal Operators Association represents coal mining companies in negotiations with the United Mine Workers of America.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Federation of Miners</span> Labor union of miners and metalworkers in western USA and Canada (1893-1967)

The Western Federation of Miners (WFM) was a labor union that gained a reputation for militancy in the mines of the western United States and British Columbia. Its efforts to organize both hard rock miners and smelter workers brought it into sharp conflicts – and often pitched battles – with both employers and governmental authorities. One of the most dramatic of these struggles occurred in the Cripple Creek district of Colorado in 1903–1904; the conflicts were thus dubbed the Colorado Labor Wars. The WFM also played a key role in the founding of the Industrial Workers of the World in 1905 but left that organization several years later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vincent Saint John</span>

Vincent Saint John (1876–1929) was an American labor leader and prominent Wobbly, among the most influential radical labor leaders of the 20th century.

There were two related incidents between miners and mine owners in the Coeur d'Alene Mining District of North Idaho: the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho labor strike of 1892, and the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho labor confrontation of 1899. This article is a brief overview of both events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Boyce</span> Union organizer and mining executive

Edward Boyce was president of the Western Federation of Miners, a radical American labor organizer, socialist and hard rock mine owner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cripple Creek miners' strike of 1894</span> Labor strike by the Western Federation of Miners in Colorado

The Cripple Creek miners' strike of 1894 was a five-month strike by the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) in Cripple Creek, Colorado, United States. It resulted in a victory for the union and was followed in 1903 by the Colorado Labor Wars. It is notable for being the only time in United States history when a state militia was called out in support of striking workers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Bradley Orman</span> American politician (1849–1919)

James Bradley Orman was an American politician and railroad builder. He served as the 12th Governor of Colorado from 1901 to 1903. He was a Democrat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David C. Coates</span> American politician

David Courtney Coates was an American publisher and printer, labor union leader and socialist politician who served as the 11th Lieutenant Governor of Colorado, secretary and president of Colorado's State Federation of Labor, president of the American Labor Union and chairman of the National Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Adams (miner)</span>

Steve Adams, sometimes known as Stephen Adams, was an American miner and member of the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) in the early 1900s. Adams was named as an accomplice in several murders by Harry Orchard, who said that the murders were done at the orders of the WFM leadership. Adams was tried three times for murder, but was never convicted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colorado Labor Wars</span> Series of labor strikes in Colorado which were violently put down by employers (1903-04)

The Colorado Labor Wars were a series of labor strikes in 1903 and 1904 in the U.S. state of Colorado, by gold and silver miners and mill workers represented by the Western Federation of Miners (WFM). Opposing the WFM were associations of mine owners and businessmen at each location, supported by the Colorado state government. The strikes were notable and controversial for the accompanying violence, and the imposition of martial law by the Colorado National Guard in order to put down the strikes.

William Julius Barney was an American mine worker. He conducted normal employment, but for one act: he quit a job as a Telluride, Colorado mine guard during a labor dispute without letting anyone know that he was doing so. As a result of subsequent conspiracies and false accusations, William J. Barney's disappearance came to national attention, and played a role not only in local intrigue, but also in maneuvering over the assassination trials of accused conspirators charged with the murder of former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bulkeley Wells</span>

Bulkeley Wells, also spelled Buckeley Wells, was an American businessperson involved in mining. Born in Chicago to businessman Samuel Edgar Wells and Marry Agnes Bulkeley, Wells was educated at Roxbury Latin School and at Harvard University. He married into the wealthy family of Colonel Thomas L. Livermore, to daughter Grace Livermore. He moved to Telluride, Colorado, and joined the executive board of the Telluride Mining Association, and headed up the San Miguel County Citizens' Alliance (SMCCA). He had a deputy sheriff's commission, and was captain of Troop A of the Colorado National Guard. He was also a Mason, and an Elk. Wells became president and manager of the Smuggler-Union Mining Company after the murder of Arthur L. Collins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur L. Collins</span>

Arthur Launcelot Collins was a British metallurgist, mining engineer and mine manager of properties in Mexico and the United States. He was born 8 July 1868 in Truro, Cornwall, England, the son of a prominent mining expert, Joseph Henry Collins, and brother of Henry, George, and Edgar Collins and William Collins, the Bishop of Gibraltar. Joseph H. Collins founded, and with his sons Henry, Arthur, and George, operated J. H. Collins & Sons, Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, an international mining consulting business headquartered in London, England.

Citizens' Alliances were state and local anti-trade union organizations prominent in the United States of America during the first decade of the 20th century. The Citizen's Alliances were closely related to employers' associations but allowed participation of a broad range of sympathetic citizens in addition to those employers apt to be affected by strikes. Originating in the American state of Ohio as the "Modern Order of Bees," the Citizens' Alliance movement spread westwards, playing a particularly important role in labor relations in the states of Colorado and California. Citizens' Alliance groups often worked in tandem with smaller but better financed employers' organizations interested in establishing or maintaining open shop labor conditions, including the Mine Owners' Associations (MOA) or the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).

The Leadville miners' strike was a labor action by the Cloud City Miners' Union, which was the Leadville, Colorado local of the Western Federation of Miners (WFM), against those silver mines paying less than $3.00 per day. The strike lasted from 19 June 1896 to 9 March 1897, and resulted in a major defeat for the union, largely due to the unified opposition of the mine owners. The failure of the strike caused the WFM to leave the American Federation of Labor (AFL), and is regarded as a cause for the WFM turn toward revolutionary socialism.

Hard rock miners' organizations have included fraternal and union organization of miners or mine workers formed for the purpose of addressing issues such as wages, health and safety, funeral arrangements of members, or widow's benefits. Fraternal organizations have tended to focus on welfare and community; union organizations and federations have included economic issues and negotiations with employers.

The November 1897 proclamation of the State Trades and Labor Council of Montana was a reflection of western labor's assessment of the struggle between labor and capital after the failed Leadville Colorado, Miners' Strike. The proclamation, and the impetus behind it had a significant impact on the labor movement in the United States, Canada, and other countries for a period of several decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1899 Coeur d'Alene labor confrontation</span> Labor riot in Idaho, United States

The Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, labor riot of 1899 was the second of two major labor-management confrontations in the Coeur d'Alene mining district of northern Idaho in the 1890s. Like the first incident seven years earlier, the 1899 confrontation was an attempt by union miners, led by the Western Federation of Miners to unionize non-union mines, and have them pay the higher union wage scale. As with the 1892 strike, the 1899 incident culminated in a dynamite attack that destroyed a non-union mining facility, the burning of multiple homes and outbuildings and two murders, followed by military occupation of the district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1892 Coeur d'Alene labor strike</span>

The 1892 Coeur d'Alene labor strike erupted in violence when labor union miners discovered they had been infiltrated by a Pinkerton agent who had routinely provided union information to the mine owners. The response to the labor violence, disastrous for the local miners' union, became the primary motivation for the formation of the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) the following year. The incident marked the first violent confrontation between the workers of the mines and their owners. Labor unrest continued after the 1892 strike, and surfaced again in the labor confrontation of 1899.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Peabody</span> United States historic place

Fort Peabody was a military post in southwestern Colorado, situated at 13,365 feet elevation on the county line between Ouray and San Miguel Counties, making it the highest historical post of its kind in the United States. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 30, 2005 as significant to the state and nation's labor history.

The Idaho Springs miners strike of 1903 was a labor strike by members of the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) against gold mines in the vicinity of Idaho Springs, Colorado. It is one of the strikes of 1903-1904 that are collectively known as the Colorado Labor Wars. The union demanded a reduction in the working day to eight hours, without a corresponding reduction in pay. The strike began on 1 May 1903, and was called off on 1 September 1903. The strike is noted for a dynamite attack on the Sun and Moon mine, and the forcible deportation of 19 union officials and union members from the area.

References

  1. ↑ It appears that there has been considerable imprecision in historical accounts when identifying Mine Owners' Associations, and groupings sometimes overlapped. Telluride, for example, had mine operators who were members of the Telluride Mining Association (TMA), and also of the state-wide Colorado Mine Operators' Association, which may also be referred to in some documents as the Colorado Mine Owners' Association. In some publications, it is unclear whether a local or state-wide organization is indicated. Likewise, the Colorado Mine Owners' Association coexisted for a time with the Colorado Mining Association. Hopefully, further research can clarify relationships and naming uncertainties.
  2. ↑ The Corpse On Boomerang Road, Telluride's War On Labor 1899-1908, MaryJoy Martin, 2004, page 2.
  3. ↑ William Philpott, The Lessons of Leadville, Colorado Historical Society, 1995, page 2, and page 97, in reference to the Report of the Joint Special Legislative Committee, 693.
  4. ↑ The Corpse On Boomerang Road, Telluride's War On Labor 1899-1908, MaryJoy Martin, 2004, page 2.
  5. ↑ William Philpott, The Lessons of Leadville, Colorado Historical Society, 1995, page 22.
  6. ↑ The Corpse On Boomerang Road, Telluride's War On Labor 1899-1908, MaryJoy Martin, 2004, page 2.
  7. ↑ All That Glitters — Class, Conflict, and Community in Cripple Creek, Elizabeth Jameson, 1998, page 220-221.
  8. ↑ William Philpott, The Lessons of Leadville, Colorado Historical Society, 1995, page 80.
  9. ↑ "Colorado Mining Association". Archived from the original on 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2007-04-14. Retrieved April 13, 2007.
  10. ↑ The Corpse On Boomerang Road, Telluride's War On Labor 1899-1908, MaryJoy Martin, 2004, pages 141-142.
  11. ↑ The Corpse On Boomerang Road, Telluride's War On Labor 1899-1908, MaryJoy Martin, 2004, page 201.
  12. ↑ The Corpse On Boomerang Road, Telluride's War On Labor 1899-1908, MaryJoy Martin, 2004, page 223.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.